The Power of Planning
It’s day 9 of the Mattie James Consistency Challenge, and honey, it is a challenge indeed. The challenge is to publish a blog post Monday through Friday throughout the month of July. If you’ve been here long enough, you know that I’ve never done that before. I wanted to do this challenge because I felt it would be an opportunity to better understand what I could do better as a blogger. I knew going into this that planning content and blog posts in advance rather than in real time would be my biggest challenge. I was right. I’ve discovered, or rediscovered rather, than planning ahead of time is key to being successful, especially when wearing multiple hats. Here is what I’ve learned in the last two weeks…
Plan with intention. It’s not enough to say we’re going to do something. We need to know when we’re going to actually release something so that we can figure out the how and the time we need to get it done.
Creativity thrives in planning ahead of time. I’m not necessarily quick on my feet. Ideas come to me randomly at times but I’ve found that intentionally sitting down without distraction to focus on what I want to create, why I want to create it, and who I’m creating it for gives me much more opportunity to think outside the box.
Planning makes room for rest.Planning in advance has given me room to rest and to tend to unexpected things that come up.
Planning is a lifesaver of sorts. In a nutshell, life happens. Whether it be posting to social media, blogging, or working on a project, planning in advance gives us the ability to keep pushing or pivot as needed.
I don't think planning will look the same for all of us because we don’t all live the same lives of course and we all have our own challenges we live with daily. I’ve found it helpful to do the following and I’ll likely add to this list as I continue to learn what works best for me.
Write things down. The way my brain works, I have to write things down.
Make good use of a planner (and don’t let it collect dust). This goes back to writing things down. When I see it, it’s almost like I”m making a commitment.
Have an accountability partner. I’m grateful for friends who push me in the best way possible.
Be prayerful. I don’t put limitations on what I pray for so I ask God to give me wisdom on how to manage all the things I want to do and all the ideas floating through my head.
Make time to rest. Look, I can’t be productive with one eye open. I struggle with insomnia so I have to be very very intentional about resting or my brain just won’t function properly.
This challenge has pushed me and I’m pumped to keep going. If you have any advice on how to be consistent, feel free to help a sista out and share in the comments.
K R Y S T L E
